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4 



New Amsterdam, 
New Orange, 
New York, 



WITH CHRONOLOGICAL DATA. 




CHARLES W. DARLING, 

Cor. Sec'y of the Oneida Historical Society, Utica, A r . Y. 



PRIVATELY PRINTED. 
1889. 





^ 



«j 



ew Amsterdam, 



New Orange, 
New York, 



WITH CHBONOLOGICAL DATA. 




CHARLES W. DARLING, 

Cor. Sec'y of the Oneida Historical Society, Utica, A r . Y. 



PRIVATELY PRINTED. 
1889. 






"We walk amid the currents of actions left undone, 
The germs of deeds that wither before they see 

the sun. 
For every sentence uttered, a million more are 

dumb ; 
Men's lives are chains of chances, and History their 

Sun." 

By tranefei 

^T 20 1915 



PREFATORY REMARKS. 

-*-> 6< H€-» 

The historical notes herein given convey an 
idea of the city of New York as it appeared in its 
earliest days. They have been gathered, to a large 
extent, from the writings of De Vries, Denton, 
Brodhead, De Witt, Benson, Rogers, Bryant, 
Stevens and Winsor; also from manuscript folio 
volumes of public records; a portion of which was 
published by Moulton in 1825. The Knickerbocker 
authors have furnished much valuable information 
on this same topic, still something has been left 
untold. 

It is the object of this compilation to fill, in part 
at least, this vacancy. The notes date back to the 
period when trading and fishing huts were first 
erected upon Manhattan Island ; they therefore 
necessarily embrace the years between the discovery 
of this land by Hudson in 1609, and the recall of 
Gov. Wouter Van Twiller in 1637. 

C. W. D. 



These portraitures represent Gen. George and 
Martha Washington at the time of his inaugura- 
tion as President of the United States, April 
30, 1789. 

They are reproductions of the miniatures on 
ivory, taken from life by the Scotch artist, Mr. 
Archibald Robertson; and were first given to the 
public through Mrs. Martha J. Lamb's Magazine 
of American History, April, 1888. 

The originals are owned by the granddaughters 
of the artist, Mrs. Charles W. Darling and Mrs. S. 
Matilda Mygatt, and have been deposited on loan, 
at the request of Gen. L. P. Di Cesnola and others ; 
in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 




T*HE Rev. Thomas De Witt, D.D., (of blessed 
memory,) in an historical discourse delivered 
August, 1856, stated that the Protestant Reformed 
Dutch Church of New York City, the first founded 
in North America, dates from about the time of the 
first settlement on Manhattan Island. After the 
discovery of the island in 1609, commercial adven- 
tures were made by Holland merchants, and small 
trading ports were formed at Manhattan and Fort 
Orange as early as 161 3. It was not until after the 
formation of the West India Company in 162 1, that 
measures were taken for an agricultural settlement 
in New Netherland, • in 1623. Among the small 
number of these early settlers were some Walloons, 
who, during the severity of the religious persecu- 



tion in the seventeenth century, had fled from the 
French Belgic provinces to Holland, and had be- 
come domesticated there. The first born white 
child was the daughter of George Janse D'Rapalje, 
one of these same Walloon settlers, who located on 
the Long Island shore at Walleboght. It was stipu- 
lated by the West India Company, whenever emi- 
grants went forth under their auspices, and that of 
the States-General of Holland, to send with them a 
school master a pious member of the church, whose 
office should be to instruct the children, and pre- 
side at religious meetings until the regular ministry 
should be over them. The ziekentroosters (com- 
forters of the sick,) were commissioned as assistants 
to the ministers of the gospel ; and in 1626 Gov- 
ernor Minuit came to America with two individuals, 
who were to act in this capacity. During this year, as 
the records show, Minuit purchased from the aborig- 
ines the entire island of Manhattan, then estimated 
to contain about 22,000 acres of land, for the value 
of 60 guilders, or about $24 of our present cur- 
rency, when it was ceded by the native proprietors to 
the Dutch West India Company. For a time, the 
religious meetings of those grand old Dutch pio- 
neers were held in temporary buildings, and it is in 
evidence that as early as 1626, a congregation met 
in a spacious room over a horse-mill, owned or occu- 
pied by Francois Molemaker. After the arrival of 
Dominie Bogardus in 1633, a plain wooden building 



was erected, situate on the East River, near what 
is now Old Slip. Here the services were conducted 
until 1642, when David Peterson de Vriez, the fa- 
mous navigator, and Governor William Kieft 
secured the appointment of a committee to procure 
the needed funds from individuals, and from the 
West India Company, for the building of a suitable 
church edifice. The call was as promptly and as 
willingly responded to by those noble sires, as sim- 
ilar calls are met by the representative Dutchmen 
of to-day; and before the close of the same year a 
Reformed Dutch Church was erected within the 
fort, at its south-east corner. It was built of stone, 
and covered with shingles, which, from their expo- 
sure to the weather, soon resembled slate. 

Jochem Pietersz Kuyter and Jan Claesz Damen 
were elected to serve with David Pietersz Vriez 
and William Kieft, as the first consistory of the 
"Gereformeerde Kerck," or Reformed Dutch church. 
This name, given in 1529 in the parent land, arose 
when six princes of the German empire formally 
and solemnly protested against the decrees of the 
Diet Spires, and it has since been the distinctive 
name, as applied to the glorious Reformation. 

The late Rev. H. P. Rogers, D.D., in a sermon 
preached in the North Dutch Church Nov. 26, 1857, 
thus alludes to the name, doctrinal standards, and 
polity of the Reformed Dutch Church. "They are 
derived from the action of those who met at Ant- 



werp in 1563, and adopted a system of principles 
and rules which laid the foundation, and in a great 
measure formed the full texture of church govern- 
ment and order adopted by subsequent synods. We 
bear a name connected with the grandest historical 
associations and noblest memories of the past. It 
associates us with some of the brightest names in 
the catalogue of God's illustrious servants. It 
dates back to the time when, at the command of 
God, the light of the Reformation illumined the 
dark ages, and brought freedom to imprisoned souls. 
It connects us with such illustrious names as Lu- 
ther, Calvin, Knox, Craumer, Wessel, Gansevoort, 
Rudolph, Agricola and others, who, as Demarest 
.says in his history of the Reformed Protestant 
Dutch Church, sowed the seed which was quickened 
into life by the Reformation. The mother church 
was distinguished in that day for the profound 
learning of her theologians, the devotion of her 
pastors, the purity of her creed, and the scriptural 
beauty of her forms of worship. She opened her 
arms freely to welcome the fugitive Huguenot, the 
out-lawed Jew, and the exiled Puritan. She shel- 
tered in her bosom the wanderer from the valleys of 
Piedmont, and the mountains of Scotland. She had 
drank of the bitter cup of persecution, and the suf- 
ferer for conscience sake, though a stranger to her 
land and her dialect, was ever hailed as a brother in 
their common Lord. 



Such are the associations connected with the 
name and origin of this early church ; and it is pleas- 
ant, also, to think that those noble men who landed 
on Plymouth Rock, and to whom this Western 
world owes so much, came from their own land 
by the way of Holland, where for twelve years they 
found a safe retreat from persecution, and enjoyed 
the Christian hospitality of their Dutch brethren. 
That twelve years of sojourn in the Netherlands 
might have been no unimportant portion of the train- 
ing of the Pilgrims for the work which lay before 
therii on the rocky shores of New England. The 
Reformed Churches of Germany, Scotland, France, 
Switzerland and Holland, when the Reformation 
from Popery took rise, were in close affinity with each 
other, not only in holding the doctrines of grace, 
but in their views of the Lord's Supper, and also of 
Presbyterian church government and order. 

The contract made by the men who composed 
the first consistory of the old Dutch Church within 
the fort is upon record. It was made in May, 
1642, before the Secretary of the New Netherlands, 
between William Kieft, at the request of his breth- 
ren, the wardens of the church in New Neth- 
erland, John Ogden of Stanford and Richard 
Ogden, who contracted to build the church of rock 
stone, 70 feet long, 52 broad, and 16 feet high above 
the soil, for twenty-five hundred guilders, (^416.13 
4,) "in beaver, cash or merchandise, to-wit: if the 



IO 

church wardens are satisfied with the work, so that 
in their judgment the 2,500 guilders shall have been 
earned, then said church wardens will reward them 
with one hundred guilders (^16.13 4,) more; in the 
meantime, assist them whenever it is in their power, 
and allow them the use, for a month or six weeks, 
of the company's boat, to facilitate the carrying of 
the stone thither." 

The church was not completely finished until 
the first year of Governor Stuyvesant's administra- 
tion. In July, 1647, ne an d two others were ap- 
pointed kerk meesters, (church wardens,) to superin- 
tend the work and complete it during the winter. 

This continued to be their house of worship 
until the church in Garden street was opened in 
1693 for service. In form, this edifice was an 
oblong square, with three sides of an octagon on the 
east side. In the front, on a large square foundation, 
it had a brick steeple, and the interior space above 
the entrance was used as a consistory room. The 
window sashes contained small panes of glass set in 
lead, many of which had upon them the coats of 
arms of those who had been elders and magistrates, 
curiously burnt on glass by Gerard Duyckinck. 
This building continued the only house of worship 
for the Dutch people until another edifice was 
erected at the corner of Nassau and Liberty streets. 
The Garden street church was called the O/d, the 
Nassau street the New, and when the church at 



II 

the corner of Fulton and William was erected, it 
took the name of the North. Then the Garden 
street church was designated as the Sout/i, and the 
Nassau street as the Middle. 

At the front entrance of the old church in the 
fort, was placed a stone with this inscription: "An. 
Dom. MDCXLII, W. Kieft Dir. Gen. Heeft de 
Gemeente dese tempel doen bouwen." In the year 
of our Lord, one thousand six hundred and forty- 
two, W. Kieft, being director-general, has this con- 
gregation caused this temple to be built. In 1790, 
when the foundations of the fort were being dug 
away, this stone was found among the rubbish. It 
was removed to the church in Garden street, where 
it remained until both were destroyed in the great 
fire of December, 1835. 

The baptismal and other records of the Re- 
formed Dutch church commence in 1639, and ap- 
pear in the hand writing of Dominie Selyns, who 
carefully arranged them. All previous records were 
probably destroyed at a remote period of time. 

The colony of New Netherland remained forty 
years after the first agricultural settlement, when, in 
1664, the land was ceded to the British Government 
by a treaty which secured to the Dutch their ecclesi- 
astical and civil privileges. During the administra- 
tion of Gov. Stuyvesant, the colony had grown con- 
siderably, and the population of New Amsterdam 
at the time of the session was about sixteen hund- 



12 

red. Dominie Selyns preached at Brooklyn and 
Gov. Stnyvesant's bouwerie, from 1660 to 1664, 
when he returned to Holland. On the decease of 
the ministers Drisius and Megapolensis, the church 
of New York sent a call to Selyns in Holland, which 
he declined, but subsequently, after the death of Van 
Nieuwenhuysen, the call having been renewed, was 
accepted. In 1682 he became sole pastor of the 
church, and continued such until the year 1699, 
when Rev. Gualterus Dubois became his associate. 

Referring to subjects connected with the city 
proper, and its inhabitants, it may be well to state 
that in August, 1673, while England was at war 
with Holland, a fleet belonging to the latter, and 
commanded by commodores Cornells Evertsen and 
Jacob Benches ; captains Anthonio Colve, Nicolaes 
Boes, and Ab. Fierd. Van Zyll recaptured New York. 
Exercising the power of a supreme military tribu- 
nal, they named the city New Orange, in compli- 
ment to the Dutch prince of Orange. Pursuant to 
a treaty of peace between England and Holland, 
that closed the war in 1674, New Orange was re-de- 
livered to the English, who gave it the name 
by which it has since been distinguished. At the 
remarkable era when the Dutch were in possession 
of the city, the legislative, executive and judicial 
power was vested in the governor and his council. 
The hoofd-schout (high sheriff,) acted as fiscael, 
(attorney-general,) and conducted offenders to the 



13 

gaol, whipping post, wooden horse, gallows, or trans- 
port ship. If a criminal was gnilty of crimen lesae 
majestatis, or of libel on the burgomasters, he was 
led to a stake with a bridle in his mouth, rods under 
his arm, and a label on his breast. The wees- 
meesters had charge of the poor, and the roymees- 
ters regulated the fences, and the citizens were 
divided into two classes ; the groot burgerrecht and 
klein burgerrecht. 

The amusements and customs of the people con- 
sisted in dancing the hipsey-saw, shuffle-shuffle, 
playing cards, nine-pins, and trick-track; plucking 
the goose, planting the may-pole, surrounded with 
ragged stockings, sailing to Nut (Governor's) Island 
or Brenkelen. Walks were taken to the Ladies' 
Valley, (Maiden Lane,) and rides to the Bouwerie, 
Corlear's Hook, Sapokanikan, Bloemend 'Dal, Nieuw 
Harlaem, Spyt den Duyvel Kill, or Vreedendal, 
(Westchester.) 

Anthonio Colve was commissioned as governor;, 
under the provisional sanction of the States-Gen- 
eral and the Prince of Orange. Cornelis Steenwyck 
was appointed as his counselor-of-state, and Nicho- 
las Bayard as Secretary of New Netherlands. 
Jacobus Van de Water was made auditor of the 
Military Council, and the burgomasters and sche- 
pens took their position in line. A code of sangui- 
nary military law was deemed necessary, and the 
strictest discipline in garrison and among the militia 



14 

was enforced. The mayor, at the head of the latter, 
held his daily parades before the City Hall, and each 
evening he received from the koofd-wagt (guard) of 
the fort the keys, with which, (accompanied by a 
sergeant and six armed soldiers,) he locked the city 
gates. The burger-wagt (citizen on guard,) opened 
the gates at daylight, and returned the keys to the 
commanding officer at the fort. During this inter- 
val no person could go upon the ramparts, bulwarks, 
rondeels or batteries of the city, on pain of corporal 
punishment ; but if any individual dared to enter or 
leave the city except through the gate, death was 
the penalty. At the fort the soldiers were daily 
paraded and exercised, the guard mounted the ram- 
parts upon duty, the sentinels were stationed at the 
gates, the reveille was played each morning at day- 
break, the tap-toe beaten each evening at 9 o'clock, 
and the daily discharges of musketry and occasional 
roar of artillery were heard in echoes at Flatten Bar- 
rack, Golden and Potbaker's Hills, or in reverbera- 
tion along the surrounding shores and forests. 
Bvery day a corporal's guard was on duty from each 
company in garrison, when the muskets were ex- 
amined. At night the corporals changed their sen- 
tinels each half hour, and the hoofd-rond (chief 
round) went before midnight and received the pass- 
word. During the day the corporals changed their 
sentinels as circumstances required. Their further 
duty was to see that muskets were cleaned and well 



*5 

charged, to examine the ammunition and bandeliers r 
(cartridge boxes,) to keep their men in or near the 
guard-house, and to prevent the introduction of 
liquor. A code of military law was read aloud by 
the corporal every time the soldiers went on guard, 
so that no one might pretend ignorance. By this 
code, they were liable to be punished for blasphemy 
with confinement on bread and water three days; 
for a second offense, the tongue was perforated with 
a hot iron. Death was decreed for mutiny, for leav- 
ing his corps de garde without permission, for chal- 
lenging to fight, for opposition to his officers, or to 
be found sleeping when on duty. Whoever became 
intoxicated during guard was cashiered and ban- 
ished from the company. He who did not appear 
on parade, received punishment by being placed on 
the wooden horse. One of the first acts of the mil- 
itary tribunal was to invite the citizens to assemble 
and appoint a committee of six, to confer with the 
council. At the conference, these six deputies re- 
ceived a request to call a meeting of the citizens to 
nominate six persons for burgomasters, and fifteen 
for schepens, "of the best and most respectable citi- 
zens of the reformed christian religion only." By 
a majority of votes the citizens nominated for burg- 
omasters were Cornells Steenwyck, Cornells Van 
Ruyven, Johannis Van Brugh, Marten Cregier, Jo- 
hannis de Peyster, and Nicholas Bayard ; for 
schepens, Jeronimus Ebbingh, William Beeckman, 



i6 

Egidius Luyck, Jacob Kip, Gelyn Verplanck, Lou- 
rans Vau de Spiegel, Balthazaer Bayard, Francois 
Rombouts, Stephen Van Cortlant, Adolph Pietersen, 
Reynier Willemsen, Peter Jacobsen, Jan Vigne, 
Pieter Stoutenburg and Coenract Ten Eyck. 

They took an oath of allegiance to the high and 
mighty lords, the States-General of the United 
Netherlands, and his highness, the lord prince of 
Orange, to obey their magistrates, administer equal 
justice, promote the welfare of the city, and defend 
the true christian religion, in conformity to the 
Synod of Dordrecht, as instructed in the churches 
of Netherland. On the 13th of August a proclama- 
tion was issued restoring the form of the govern- 
ment of the city to its ancient character, as prac- 
ticed in the Fatherland, and the officers commis- 
sioned were directed in addition to the duties 
indicated by their oath, to govern the inhabitants, 
citizens and strangers, "in conformity to the laws 
and statutes of Holland." The commission for gov- 
ernor bore date the 17th September. After he and 
his council were left in the full exercise of supreme 
legislation, executive and judicial authority, they 
issued the following instructions: 

Instructions for Jacobus Van de Water, as mayor 
and auditor of the city of New Orange. 

1. The mayor shall take good care that in the 
morning the gates are opened at sunrise, and 



17 

locked again in the evening with sunset ; for which 
purpose he shall go to the principal guard, and 
there address himself to the commanding officer, 
and demand to conduct him thither, at least a ser- 
geant with six soldiers, (schutters,) all armed with 
guns. With these he shall proceed to the fort to 
fetch the keys, and return these again there as soon 
as the gates are opened or shut. There he shall 
receive the watch-word from the governor, or from 
the officer commanding in his absence, when he 
shall again return to the city hall, and deliver the 
received orders to the sergeant of the guard. 

2. The mayor shall be present at all military tri- 
bunals, and have his vote in his turn, next the 
youngest ensign. 

3. The mayor may every night make the round, 
give the watch-word to the corporal, visit the guards, 
and if there are some absent, make the next day his 
report to the governor. 

4. As auditor, he shall act in the military council 
as secretary, and take care that a correct register is 
kept of all the transactions. This book (notules,) 
shall remain under the care of the auditor — and 
deliver no copy of it, except upon special orders. 

Done at Fort Willem Hendiick, 12 Jan., 1674. 

Provisional instructions for the sheriff, burgomasters 
and schepens, of the city of New Orange. 
1. The sheriff and magistrates shall, each in 
their quality, take proper care that the reformed 



Christian religion, in conformity to the synod of 
Dordrecht, is maintained — without permitting that 
any thing contrary to it shall be attempted by any 
other sect. 

2. The sheriff shall be present at all meetings, 
and then preside, except that his honour the gov- 
ernor, or any other person commissioned by him, 
was present, who in such case shall preside, when 
the sheriff shall follow the youngest burgomaster. 
But whenever the sheriff is acting in behalf of jus- 
tice, or in any other manner as plaintiff, then in such 
case he shall, after having made his conclusion, rise 
from his seat and absent himself from the bench 
during the decision. 

3. All cases relative to the police, security, and 
peace of the inhabitants — so too of justice between 
man and man, shall be determined by definite sen- 
tences by the schout, burgomasters and schepens, 
to the amount of fifty beavers and below it; but in 
all cases exceeding that sum, all persons are free to 
appeal to the governor-general and council here. 

4. All criminal delicts committed here within the 
city and its jurisdiction, shall be judged by the 
aforesaid sheriff, burgomasters and schepens, who 
shall have power to sentence and judge even pun- 
ishment of death — provided that all judgments and 
corporal punishments shall not be executed before 
these are approved by the governor-general and his 
council, this approbation being demanded and ob- 
tained. 



*9 

5. The meetings shall be couvocated by the pres- 
ident burgomaster, which he shall communicate the 
day before to captain Willem Knyff, who by this is 
provisionally authorized and qualified to be present 
at the meetings, and preside in them in the name 
and in the behalf of the governor, and so too the 
sheriff, burgomasters and schepens. 

6. All proposals shall be made by the first burgo- 
master, which proposal being made, then shall upon 
it the first advice be given by him who presides in 
the name of the governor, and so of course by the 
remaining magistrates, each in his rank; and after 
the collection of votes, it shall by the majority be 
concluded. But if it happen that the votes are 
equal, then the president may conclude with his 
vote, in which case those of the contrary opinion, or 
the minority, may have their opinion placed on the 
protocol, but may not divulge it in public, under the 
penalty of an arbitrary correction. 

7. The burgomasters shall change their rank each 
half year, when the oldest shall be first president, 
and he who follow him the next; but for this year 
the change shall be every fourth month, because 
this year three burgomasters have been appointed. 

8. The sheriff, burgomasters and schepens, shall 
hold their sessions as often as it may be required, 
provided they determine on fixed days. 

9. The sheriff, burgomasters and schepens, are 
authorized to resolve for the benefit, tranquillity 



20 

and peace of the inhabitants of their district, and 
publish and fix, with the approbation of the gov- 
ernor, any statutes, ordinances and placards; pro- 
vided that they are not contrary, but, as far as it 
may be possible, agreeing with the laws and statutes 
of our Fatherland. 

10. The said sheriff, burgomasters and schepens, 
shall be obliged to rigid observance of all the pla- 
cards and ordinances which are commanded and 
published by supreme authority, and see that these 
are executed, and not to permit that any act to the 
contrary is performed, but that the contraveners are 
prosecuted in conformity to its contents ; and that, 
further, all such orders shall be promptly executed, 
which shall be conveyed to them by the governor- 
general, from time to time. 

ii. The sheriff, burgomasters and schepens, shall 
be further obliged to acknowledge their high and 
mighty lords, the States-General of the United Neth- 
erlands, and his serene highness, the lord prince of 
Orange, as their supreme sovereign, and to maintain 
their high jurisdiction, rights, and domains in this 
country. 

12. The election of all inferior officers and min- 
isters for the service of the aforesaid sheriff, burgo- 
masters and schepens, the secretary's office only 
excepted, shall be elected and confirmed by them- 
selves. 



21 

13. The sheriff shall carry into execution all sen- 
tences of burgomasters and schepens, without 
releasing any individual except with advice of the 
Court; and take particular good care that the resort 
subjected to him, be thoroughly cleansed from all 
villainies, brothels and similar impurities. 

14. The sheriff shall enjoy all the fines during 
the time of his service, provided that these shall not 
exceed the sum of twelve hundred guilders, se- 
want's value, annually; which sum having received, 
he shall of all the other fines receive the just half, 
provided that he shall neither directly nor indirectly 
enter into a compromise with any delinquent, but 
leave this to the judicature of the magistrates. 

15. The sheriff, burgomasters and schepens afore- 
said shall on the nth day of the month of August, 
being eight days before the election of the new mag- 
istrates, call a meeting, and in the presence of a 
committee chosen for that purpose by the governor- 
general, nominate a double number of the best 
qualified, honest and respectable inhabitants, and 
only such as are of the reformed Christian religion, 
or who are at least favorable to it, and well affec- 
tionate, for sheriff, burgomasters and schepens 
aforesaid, which nomination that same day shall 
be sealed and delivered, from which then the elec- 
tion shall be made on the 17th of the month of 
August, with the continuation of some of the old 



22 

magistrates, if it was deemed proper or necessary. 
Done in Fort Willem Hendrick 15 Jan., 1674. 
By 'order of the governor-general of Netherland. 

N. BAYARD, 
[Signed.) Secretary. 

In August, 1674, the re-election of city officers 
took place, "agreeably to custom, and the specific 
instructions of the governor." 

The old sheriff, burgomasters and schepens 
accordingly met at the city hall, the place of their 
sessions, and nominated a double list of "the most 
respectable and wealthiest inhabitants," viz.: For 
burgomasters — Willem Beeckman, Oloff Stevensen 
Cortland. For schepens — Stephanus Van Cortland, 
Francois Rombouts, Jan Vigne, Peter Jacobsen 
Marius, Christopher Hoogland, Gerret Van Tricht. 
Those elected were Willem Beeckman, Stephanus 
Van Cortland, Francois Rombouts, and Christopher 
Hoogland. The others were J. Van Brug, old burgo- 
master, Jacob Kipp, presiding schepen, and Gelyn 
Verplanck, schepen. At the close of the pre- 
ceding year, the expenses incurred in repairing 
the fortifications and providing for the public de- 
fense, amounted to 11,000 guilders, to meet which a 
tax assessment was made upon the people, according 
to the capital which the inhabitants possessed. One 
hundred and thirty-four estates were taxed, and the 
aggregate amount was about ^95,000. Cash was 



23 

scarce in the cit}r, and the government officers 
and others were paid in seawant or beavers. 
Seawant, or seawan, was the name of Indian money. 
It was called, also, wampum, and consisted of beads 
formed of the shells of shell fish. It was of two colors, 
the black being considered double the value of the 
white. Its current value was six beads of the 
white, or three of the black, for an English penny. 

At this period of time, the Capsey, or dividing 
point between the North and East rivers, terminated 
a short distance south of State street, and was the 
ancient boundary of the shore. A row of buildings 
were upon Capsey street, and extended to Whitehall 
street. Between Paerel (Pearl) street and the fort 
stood the large wooden horse about twelve feet high, 
with an edged back, where persons guilty of mis- 
demeanors were punished. The culprit was seated 
astride with his legs fastened by a chain to an iron 
stirrup. Fort Willem Hendrick, the name officially 
given to the fort in 1673, was commenced in 1635 
by Gov. Van Twiller, neglected by Gov. Kieft, re- 
paired by Gov. Stuyvesant, and demolished in 
1 7 909 1. It was situated directly south of Bowling 
Green, on high ground, was in shape of a square 
with four bastions, two gates and mounted 42 
cannon. 

The governor's stone house erected by Kieft was 
100 feet long, 50 wide, and 24 high, with two outside 
walks the length of the building, the one nine and 



24 

the other ten feet broad ; entry 50 feet long and 20 
broad, with a partition and double chimney. An 
inferior one was previously built partly of logs and 
brick upon the same site, by Van Twiller. Stuyve- 
sant's house was built about four years before he 
surrendered his government to the English. It 
fronted the public wharf, and stood on the west side 
of the present Whitehall street, nearly opposite the 
commencement of the present Water street. 

The Secretary's office was at the north gate, near 
the north-east bastion of the fort. 

It was erected in behalf of Cornells Tienhoven, 
who was secretary of New Netherland under Van 
Twiller and Kieft. From this office the first post- 
rider started, at the commencement of every month 
on his rounds to Boston, Hartford, and other places 
along the road. 

The proclamation of Gov. Lovelace, issued De- 
cember 10, 1672, is a document too curious to be 
omitted. It was in the following words : 

"Whereas it is thought convenient, and neces- 
sary, in obedience to his Sacred Majesty's Com- 
mands, who enjoynes all his subjects, in their dis- 
tinct colonyes, to enter into a strict Allyance and 
Correspondency with each other, as likewise for the 
advancement of Negotiation, Trade, and Civill Com- 
merce, and for a more speedy Intelligence and 
Dispatch of affayres, that a messenger or Post bee 
authorised to sett forth from this City of New-Yorke, 



25 

monthly, and thence to travaile to Boston, from 
whence within that month hee shall returne againe 
to this City. These are therefore to give notice to 
all persons concerned, That on the first day of 
January next (1673) the messenger appointed shall 
proceed on his Journey to Boston : If any there- 
fore have any letters or small portable goods to bee 
conveyed to Hartford, Connecticott, Boston, or any 
other parts in the Road, they shall bee carefully 
delivered according to the Directions by a sworne 
Messenger and Post, who is purposely imployed in 
that Affayre; In the Interim those that bee dispos'd 
to send Letters, lett them bring them to the Secre- 
tary's office, where is a lockt Box they shall be 
preserv'd till the Messenger calls for them. All 
persons paying the Post before the Bagg bee sealed 
up. 

Dated at New Yorke this 10th day of Dec. 1672." 

The public wharf and dock were built by the 
burgomasters of the city about the year 1658. Here 
vessels were loaded and unloaded, and a wharfage 
duty was exacted of eight stivers per last. The 
harbor was constructed to accommodate vessels 
and yachts, where during winter they might be 
secure against the floating ice; for which privi- 
lege large vessels paid annually to the city 
"one beaver;" smaller craft in proportion. This 
wharf and harbor are now a part of Whitehall 
street, Whitehall slip having since been formed into 
the river. 



26 

The public store-houses, or pack-kuysen of the 
Dutch West India Company, the "lords patroons" 
of this city, were situated in Winckel-straet, (Stone 
street,) which then extended from the now White- 
hall street, to Broad street. Between Winckel-straet 
and the dock, and the wall along the harbor, and in 
the direction across the bridge, at the foot of Heeren- 
gracht, was Brug straet, (now Bridge street,) and 
between this and the dock was that portion of the 
present continuation of Peail street, formerly 
called Dock street. Here a small market house was 
erected in 1656, and a market established every Sat- 
urday on the shore, because farmers, as the order in 
council recited, "now and then" had brought vari- 
ous articles "as beef, pork, butter, cheese, turnips, 
carrots, cabbages and other products of the country; 
and on coming to the shore often waited a great 
while to their loss, because the commonalty, who 
resided at some distance from the shore, remained 
ignorant that such articles were offered for sale." 

In rear of Winckle street, and betweeen that and 
Beever-gracht, (now Beaver street,) was an open 
space called markt-velt, where a market had been 
held and cattle shows exhibited before the market 
house on the shore was erected. It embraced the 
plain before the fort, and a lane reaching from Mar- 
ket-field to Broad street, called Marktvelt-steegje, 
(Market-fiield-lane,) afterwards better known as 
Petticoat-lane. The most westerly buildings bor- 



2 7 

dered on the east side of Breede-weg, or Broadway, 
which on the west side was carefully left open for 
the range of the cannon of the fort. Along the 
west side from the fort, as far as the present Trinity 
church, was the West India Company's garden, and 
thence beyond the city walls was the company's 
farm, afterwards called the King's farm, and extend- 
ing to the present Duane street. In the time of 
Gov. Kieft, Broad street, or Heeren-gracht, (gentle- 
men's canal,) was called the Moat, and at the 
close of the English Governor Lovelace's admin- 
istration (1672) the Great Dyke was cleaned, 
when also the streets of the city were paved. 
Many supplies were brought to the town by boats 
which sailed through the Broad street canal, and 
were tied to the bridge over the canal at the corner 
of Bridge and Broad Streets. This bridge was used 
in those early days as the Merchants Exchange. 

Four years after (1676) the gracht (canal) was 
ordered to be filled up, and the street made level and 
pavee. Beever-gracht entered the Heeren-gracht 
from the west, and Princes-gracht (now a continued 
part of Beaver street,) extended eastward and ter- 
minated in a sloot or ditch, whence was derived the 
name of Sloat-lane. In the vicinity of the Heeren- 
gracht was the Sshapen-wey, or the sheep pasture, 
sometimes called the sheep valley. From the 
Heeren-gracht to the Stadt-huys inclosure, was 
Hoog-straet, (High street,) that is from a point a 



28 

little northwest of the corner of the present Pearl 
and Broad streets to the south corner of the lane lead- 
ing from Coenties-slip into Stone street. The Stadt- 
huys or Stadt-herberg was situated at the corner of 
Hoog-straet, called afterwards Little Dock street, and 
the lane running from Coenties-slip westward into 
the street which is now a continuation of Stone 
street. It w r as built by Gov. Kieft and finished in 
1642, for the purpose in part of relieving himself 
from the burden of hospitality with which he had 
been taxed, while his New England neighbors tar- 
ried at the "Manhadoes" on their voyages to Vir- 
ginia. It was erected at the expense of the West 
India Company, and was afterwards, upon applica- 
tion of the burgomasters, granted to the city for a 
Stadt-Huys, as well as the public tavern. This 
celebrated building, in which the most memorable 
affairs of the colony were discussed, and sometimes 
transacted ; in which the schout burgomasters and 
schepens held their sessions and courts; in which 
the transfer of the sovereignty over the city and 
colony from one power to another was three times 
agitated and acceded to; in which the first public 
school ever patronized was held, in 1652, and prob- 
ably afterwards, as no school house w r as erected ; in 
which the five commissioners of the first court of 
admiralty, organized in 1665 by Gov. Nicholls, con- 
vened and held their sessions; and in which 
during the civil war between the houses of 



29 

Bayard and Leisler, (our colonial York and Lan- 
caster,) one party held possession, and returned 
the fire of his enemy at the fort. Here also in 
the winter season, many of the public balls were 
given, but when the "night watch" made its rounds 
all absent persons were warned to return to their 
homes. This famous edifice was owned or occupied 
about one hundred and eighteen years ago by Brinck- 
erhoof and Van Wyck, and in 1806 by Abraham 
Brinckerhoof. The original building was of stone, 
but when late in the seventeenth century some 
changes were made, it presented a brick front. 

Near the city hall was Slyk-steeg, Mire-lane; and 
a tannery extended from the north corner of the 
lane, passing from Coenties-slip to Mire-lane, on 
which a bark mill stood; hence the name of Mill 
street. In rear of this was elevated ground, and in 
close proximity was de Warmoes-straet (street of 
vegetables) — Garden street, near which were the 
Citizens' guard-house, and the Luthersche Kerck. 
The Lutherans, Jews and Quakers found very little 
toleration from the Dutch, but the English governors 
were more indulgent. In 167 1 Gov. Lovelace 
authorized the Lutheran congregation to erect a 
church; and Edmundson from England was al- 
lowed to preach to the society of his order. At 
an inn he held the first "Friends meeting" in the 
city, and the magistrates attended. From Coenties- 
slip to Hanover-square was the Cingel, Encircling 

/ 

/ 



30 

or Exterior street ; thence from the Rondeel, which 
is now a part of Old slip, towards the Water-poort, 
was the burghers' or citizens' path. Near the Cingel 
commenced Smeer-straet (Greese street) or Sniet- 
straet, afterwards called Smith street, and now the 
lower end of William street. The Block house at the 
water gate was at the northeast corner of the present 
Pearl and Wall streets. The stone wall connecting 
the Ronduyten was designed to keep out the inunda- 
tion of the tide and sea. The city wall was of earth, 
thrown up from a moat dug in 1653 from the Hast 
to the North rivers, at first four or five feet deep and 
ten or eleven broad, somewhat sloping at the bottom. 
On the top of this wall was a closely connected line 
of palisadoes extending a like distance from the 
water gate along the north side of the street now 
called Wall street to the North river ; hence was de- 
rived the name of Wall street, which coursed along 
the southern base of the moat, wall, and line of pal- 
isadoes. The water port or gate was connected 
with the block-house at the east end of the wall. 
The land-port, or city gate, was on Broadway, from 
thence the wall and palisadoes extended to a fortifi- 
cation in the rear of Trinity church. 

This breast-work or battery, four or five feet 
thick, may have been the same stone wall, which in 
1 75 1 was discovered eight feet under ground in 
rear of the English church. The "Lady's 
Valley," a fashionable resort in the days of Gov. 



3i 

Kieft, was probably the same place which was de- 
nominated in the period of his successor "Maagde- 
Paetje," (the Virgin's path,) now Maiden lane. It 
was called Green lane in 1692, when the common 
council ordered the land on the water side in front of 
Smee's vly, from the Block house to the hill, now 
called Beekman street, and that portion extending 
from the Block house to Green lane, to be sold at 
twenty shillings per foot. The Virgin's path pro- 
ceeded from this Vly in the direction of Maiden 
lane to the elevated ground. Smee's vly was a 
marsh extending from the rising ground a little 
north of the city walls, along the Hast river or shore 
of Pearl street to the rising ground near Fulton 
street. This valley, or salt marsh was bounded 
westward by the high ground along the rear of the 
lots on the northwestern side of Pearl street. The 
Vly was spoken of as early as the time of Van Twil- 
ler. The English, adopting the sound without the 
sense of the word, called it Fly. In 1676 the com- 
mon council ordered the tan-vats and slaughter 
houses to be removed out of the city and a public 
slaughter house to be erected "over the water without 
the gate at Smith's Fly, near the Half-Moon." 
Asher Levy, in partnership with Garret Johnson 
Rose, built the house and received a grant of its ex- 
clusive use. This was the foundation of Rose's, 
or the Fly-market." 

North of the Vly and between Beeckman's hill 



32 

and Frankfort street was a waste wet piece of 
ground known by the name of Beeckman's swamp. 
Jacob street, and parts of Ferry, Gold and William 
streets now cover it. This district of the city is 
still known by the name of "the Swamp." North of 
the rising ground that bounded Beeckman's swamp 
was another but a much larger swamp meadow or 
pond. It reached to the East river and was not com- 
pletly filled in until 1794. It occupied the area of 
parts of Cherry and Roosevelt streets, Batavia-lane, 
James, Oliver, Catharine, Fayette streets and the 
Jews'-alley to Chatham street, thence westward, it 
communicated by a stream called the " fresh water riv- 
er" with the fresh water pool or de Kolck. The city 
also at this early period possessed a "Wint Molen" 
(wind mill), erected in 1562, outside of the land 
port, on the Company's farm in Broadway, between 
Liberty and Cortlandt streets. The old wind-mill 
having decayed, upon application made to the 
governor and council, its builders received from the 
authorities the stones and iron work of the mill on 
condition that they should grind, gratis for the com- 
pany, "twenty-five -schepels" or nineteen bush- 
els of corn per week, if so much should be wanted. 
Be3^ond the Swamp-meadow on the East river was 
Nechtant, the Indian name of Corlaer's-hook, 
which has also been called Crown-point. Jacobus 
Van Corlaer owned the property, and had a plan- 
tation there in the time of Wouter Van Twiller. 



33 

He was Van Twiller's trumpeter. De Vriez records 
that on the 8th of August the first gunner of the fort 
gave a frolick. On one of the points of the fort a tent 
was erected, and tables and benches placed for the in- 
vited people. When the glee was at its highest, Cor- 
laer the trumpeter began to blow, which occasioned a 
quarrel, and the Koopman of the stores, and the 
Koopman of the cargoes gave the trumpeter names. 
The trumpeter in revenge, gave them each a drub- 
bing; when they ran home for their swords, and 
would take revenge of the trumpeter. Swaggering 
and boasting much they went to the house of the 
governor and would have eaten the trumpeter ; but 
when the wine had evaporated in the morning, their 
courage was somewhat lowered, and they did not 
endeavor much to find the trumpeter." In 1652 
Van Corlaer sold his property to William Beeckman 
for the sum of ^750. West of Corlaer's-hook was 
the "Bouwerie" or farm, which in 165 1 Gov. Stuy- 
vesant purchased with a dwelling house, barn, reek- 
lands, six cows, two horses, and two young negroes, 
for sixty-four hundred guilders (^1066.13,4.) 

Bryant locates the place near Tenth street, a 
little east of Third avenue. 

The general appearance of the city was attrac- 
tive, rendered so to a great extent by the numerous 
orchards, gardens, arbors, pleasure grounds, and 
forest trees which shaded it. Its aspect was diver- 
sified by hill and dale, and its eminences were clus- 



34 

tered with buildings ; the whole forming a most de- 
lightful perspective from the water. 

The Flats, covering the site of the city hall and 
its park, were favorite resorts of the burghers and 
their English fellow-townsmen. Then came the 
farms and the "bouwerie," from which the present 
Bowery takes its name. 

The out-door amusements of the people in the 
day-time were varied in their character, and much 
time was spent on the ice ; for the two rivers and the 
bay were covered with ice more frequently than now. 
Men, women and children glided swiftly on skates 
from point to point, and many of them bore upon 
their heads the produce of their Dutch farms. 

Brodhead says that in the summer season the 
trees of the virgin soil about New York yielded a 
bountiful supply of peaches, and strawberries were 
to be found in great abundance. Excursions were 
frequently made to gather them, on which occasions 
the girls and boys, loaded with rich cream and sugar, 
resorted to the fields and there spent many happy 
hours. 

The people from the villages further north near 
the Sound reached New York usually by water, 
deeming the perils of Hell-Gate safer than the woods 
in which lurked hidden dangers. Residents of the 
town desiring to reach Long Island at its nearest 
point summoned a ferryman, by blowing a horn 
which hung upon the branch of a tree near the 



35 

landing. The ferryman's boat would carry them 
over to Brenkelen. Denton describes Brooklyn as 
a village with a small and ugly church standing in 
the middle of the road, whence the traveler might 
find his way as best he could to Vlacke-Bos, (Flat- 
bush) ; to Rust-dorp, (Jamaica) ; and to the more 
distant hamlets. 

The pages of Knickerbocker's history picture 
the homes of the early Dutch colonists as being 
places where hospitality was boundless ; and where 
the Hollander sat by his large tiled fire-place with 
his long clay pipe in hand. The floor about him 
was sprinkled with clean, white sand, and the low 
studded room was scrupulously clean. Over the 
Dutch gable of his house swung the traditional 
weather-cock, and upon the siocp the family collected 
during the warm summer evenings. 

The farm of Dominie Bogardus, called the 
Dominie' 1 s Bouwerie, the Duke's farm, the King's 
farm, the Queen's farm, as it passed from one owner 
to another, became at length the property of Trinity 
church by letters-patent under the seal of the prov- 
ince. 

O'Callaghan notes the fact that to the convey- 
ance of this farm to Gov. Lovelace in 1671 by the 
children of Anetje Jans, (the widow of Dominie 
Bogardus,) one of the sons was not a party, and 
therefore the property is claimed by his descendants. 



36 

Bryant, in his history of the United States, 
gives an incident relating to Dominie Bogardns, 
showing that he did not always exercise that for- 
bearance and gentleness which clergymen are sup- 
posed usually to possess. Van Twiller's administra- 
tion had brought upon himself the contempt of the 
people, and had kept the little band of officials in 
continual perplexity. The incompetent governor 
had become more and more imbecile in his manage- 
ment of home affairs, and he was continually in- 
volved in petty quarrels with his associates. On 
one occasion Dominie Bogardus called him "a child 
of the devil," and declared that he would give him 
"such a shake from the pulpit on the next Sunday, 
that would make him shudder." No doubt the gov- 
ernor deserved it, for he often brought disgrace upon 
himself and his office, by brawling over his wine 
with drunken superintendents or captains, among 
whom he found congenial companionship. 

In concluding this brief record it may be 
well to observe that, according to Stevens, it was the 
Protestant Commonwealth of England which passed 
the Navigation Act of 1660, directed against the 
foreign trade of her growing rival of the same re- 
ligious faith. In this act may be found the germ of 
the policy of England not only toward her neigh- 
bors, but also toward her colonies. This act was 
maintained in force after the restoration of Charles 
II to the throne. Enforced at home, it was evaded 



37 

in the British American colonies. The arm of Eng- 
land was long, but her hand lay lightly on the 
American continent, for the extent of coast and 
frontier was too great to be watched, and the Eng- 
lish neighbors of the Dutch in Maryland and Vir- 
ginia conducted much illicit trade with them. In 
1663 the losses to the revenue were so great that the 
men who enjoyed a monopoly from the King en- 
tered complaints and stated that the interest of the 
kingdom was at stake, and therefore the conquest 
of the New Netherland was resolved upon. 

In Winsor's Narrative and Critical History ol 
America we read that it is the fashion of historians 
to ascribe the seizure of New Netherland to the 
perfidity of Charles; but the policy of kingdoms 
through successive administrations is more homo- 
genous than appears on the surface. The diplo- 
macy of ministers is traditional ; and the opportu- 
nity which seems to make a change is often but an 
incident in the chain. That which presented itself 
to Clarendon was the demand made by the States- 
General that the boundary line should be estab- 
lished between the Dutch and the English posses- 
sions in America. Consent on the part of Charles 
would have been a ratification of Cromwell's recog- 
nition of 1654. This demand of the Dutch govern- 
ment made in 1664 precipitated the crisis. The 
seizure of New Amsterdam, the reduction of New 
Netherland was resolved upon, and in February, 



3« 

1664, an expedition was ordered against the Diitcli 
in America. James Duke of York, grand admiral, 
was the heir to the crown, and a patent to him from 
the King his brother wonld merge therein ; and 
an authority established over the territory cov- 
ered by this grant might with limitations be ex- 
tended over the colonies. In this scheme may be 
found the beginning in America of that policy of 
personal rule, which, begun under the Catholic 
Stuart, culminated under the Protestant Hano- 
verian a century later, in the oppression which 
brought on the American Revolution. 

Truly is it said that the Dutch settlers landed 
on Manhattan Island with the minister and school 
master, and founded not only the first fully organ- 
ized church but also the first day school in the United 
States. These Hollanders provided schools for the 
education of their own children as well as for the 
benefit of the Indians, and the people of other 
nationalities sojourning among them. Years before 
John Kliot began preaching to the aboriginees the 
dominies from Holland instructed Indian converts 
in Christianity, whose names are still to be seen in 
many a church register on Manhattan Island. In 
New York the Dutchmen kept up the fight for free- 
dom in religion for one hundred and thirteen years, 
never yielding until finally in 1777 it was secured 
in. the constitution of the Empire state, and thus 
leading all the states in the catholic spirit which 
ultimately became the supreme law of the land. 



Ehrnnnlnginal Eala, 



1609 Hudson discovers the river named after him. 

1614 The New Netherland Company receives its charter. 

1618 Expiration of the first New Netherland' charter. 

1621 The Dutch West India Company incorporated. 

1622 The Dutch West India Company takes formal possession of New Netherland. 

1623 Walloon emigration to New Netherland. 

1624 Cornells Jacobsen May, Governor of New Netherland. 

1625 William Verhult, Governor of New Netherland. 

1626 Peter Minuit, Governor of New Netherland. 

1629 Issue of the Charter of Privileges and Exemptions by the Dutch West India Co. 

1631 Peter Minuit recalled'. 

1633 Wouter Van Twiller, Governor of New Netherland. 

1637 Van Twiller recalled. 

1638 William Kieft, Governor of New Netherland. 

1647 Peter Stuyvesant arrives at New Amsterdam as Governor of New Netherland. 

1653 Elective municipal government established at New Amsterdam. 

1664 Grant of New Netherland to the Duke of York, and its surrender to the Eng- 
lish — Named New York. 

1668 Lovelace, Governor of New York. 

1673 Recapture of New York by the Dutch. 

1674 Treaty of Westminster confirms New York to the English. 
1674 Andros, Governor of New York. 

1680 Brockholst, Lieutenant-governor of New York. 

1683 Dongon, Governor of New York. 

1683 First Popular Assembly in New York. 



4o 

1689 Nicholson, Lieutenant-governor of New York. 

1689 Usurpation of the government by Liesler. 

1691 Sloughter, Governor of New York. 

1691 Execution of Liesler. 

1692 Fletcher, Governor of New York. 
1696 The first Trinity Church erected. 
1696 Kidd sails from New York. 

1698 Bellomont, Governor of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. 

1702 Cornbury, Governor of New York and New Jersey. 

1708 Lovelace, Governor of New York. 

1710 Hunter, Governor of New York. 

1712 The negroes rose in insurrection. 

1720 Burnet, Governor of New York. 

1725 Bradford established the New York Gazette. 

1728 Montgomerie, Governor of New York. 

1729 A City Library was founded. 
1732 Cosby, Governor of New York. 

1736 Clarke, Lieutenant governor of New York. 

1740 The New York Society Library organized. 

1741 "Negro Plot" in New York. 
1743 Clinton, Governor of New York. 
1750 A theatre was estalished. 

r 753 De Lancey, Governor of New York. 

1754 King's (now Columbia) College was chartered. 

1773 Sandy Hook lighthouse first lighted. 

1765 Meeting of the First Continental Congress, known as the "Stamp Act Congress" 

at the Old City Hall, Wall street, New York. 

1766 News of the repeal of the act received in the city. 

1768 Chamber of Commerce was organized at the Queen's Head Tavern, known 
later as Fraunces' Tavern, located on the corner of Pearl and Broad streets. 

1770 Lead statue of George III set up in Bowling Green. 

1770 A statue of Wm. Pitt was erected corner Wall and William streets. 

1776 Arrival of British Fleet in New York Bay. 

1776 (April 14) Washington arrives at New York. 

1776 (July 4) Declaration of Independence by Congress. 

1776 (Aug. 6) The British take possession. 

1776 (Sept. 15) Americans abandon New York. 

1776 (Sept. 21) Burning of New York; 492 houses destroyed. 

1777 New York adopts a Constitution. 

1777 Flag of Stars and Stripes adopted by Congress. 



4i 

1778 Commissioners sent to Congress by Lord North with Proposals for Peace. 
1783 (Nov. 25) The British evacuated the city, and Gen. Washing-ton entered it at 

the head of the American army. 
1783 (Dec. 4) Washington takes leave of his officers at the close of the Revolution, 

at his headquarters, corner of Pearl and Broad streets. 
1783 (Dec. 23) Resignation of General Washington. 
1785 Congress removed from Philadelphia to New York, and met in the City Hall, 

corner Wall and Nassau streets. 
1785 The Bank of New York was organized. 

1788 New Constitution of the United States was adopted. 

1789 (March 4) First Congress assembled in New York. 

1789 (April 30) Washington was inaugurated first President of the United States, 

in front of the old City Hall, facing Broad street. 

1789 The New Federal Constitution was ratified. 

1792 The Tontine Coffee-house was built. 

1795 The Park Theatre was erected. 

1797 Capital transferred from New York to Albany. 

1799 The Manhattan Company was chartered to supply the city with water. 

1801 New York Evening p os t established. 

1804 Hackney coaches were first licensed. 

1805 The New York Free School incorporated. 

1805 Organization of the Tammany Society 

1806 Steam navigation introduced by Fulton. Trip made from New York to Albany 

in 32 hours ; returning in 30 hours. 

1807 City surveyed and laid out by Gouverneur Morris, De Witt Clinton and others . 
1809 First woolen mills started in New York. 

1812 Declaration of war against Great Britain. 

1812 First steam ferry to Jersey City. 

1814 Suspension of specie payments, which lasted till July, rSiy. 

1815 First news of the treaty of peace received. 

1823 First gas company organized in New York. 

1824 Gen. La Fayette arrived in the city. 

1825 Gas was first introduced and mains laid in Broadway. 

1825 The quintal of 100 instead of 112 pounds was adopted as the new measure. 

1825 Erie Canal opened for traffic. 

1825 Departure of La Fayette for France. 

1826 (Oct. 26) Erie Canal completed, and the lakes thus united with the Atlantic. 
1826 (Nov. 11) Arrival of the first boat by the Erie Canal. 

1832 Asiatic cholera ravaged the city. 
1832 University of New York organized. 
1835 New York Herald established. 



42 

1835 Great conflagration, which raged three days and destroyed more than 600 

buildings. 
1836-7 Great financial panic, and banks suspend specie payments. 
1339 Specie payments resumed. 

1841 The New York Tribune established. 

1842 The Croton Aqueduct was completed. 

1 845 Another disastrous fire in the city, in which 300 buildings were burned. 

1846 California expedition, under Stephenson, sails from New York. 
1849 The Astor Place riot. 

1851 Ovation to Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot. 

1852 First street railway in New York. 

1853 Crystal Palace opened in a structure of iron and glass placed on Reservoir square. 
1853 Yellow Fever in New York. 

1853 Children's Aid Society founded at New York. 

1 855 Central Park selected by commissioners appointed by the Supreme Court. 

1856 Republican party formed. 

1857 Great financial crisis; banks suspend Oct. 14-15; resume specie payments 

Dec. 12-14. 

1858 Atlantic Cable celebration. 

1859 Arrival at New York of the Great Eastern, June 28. 
i860 Arrival of the Japanese embassy. 

i860 Visit of the Prince of Wales. 

i860 Secession of South Carolina. 

1 861 Attack upon Fort Sumter. 

1861 Banks suspend specie payments. 

1863 (July 13, 14, 15) Anti-draft riots in New York; furious attacks upon the negro 

population; 2000 rioters killed. 

1 864 New York Sanitary Commission Fair, receipts over one million dollars. 

1864 Gold reaches highest premium, viz, 284 per cent., July 16. 

1865 Assassination of President I,incoln. 

1866 Emma, Queen of the Sandwich Islands, visits New York. 
1869 (Sept. 24) Great Wall street panic. 

1872 The citizens combined against the public plunderers, and the leaders of the 

Ring brought to justice. 

1873 Another financial crash. (Black Friday.) 
1878 Chinese Embassy visits New York. 

1878 (Dec. 17) Gold sold at par — the first time since 1862. 

1879 (Jan. 1) Resumption of specie payments. 
1881 Revised New Testament published. 

1883 (May 24) Opening of the Brooklyn Suspension Bridge- 



43 



Departure from New York of the Greely relief steamers "Bear" and "Thetis." 
1884 Great panic in Wall street. 

Corner stone laid of the Bartholdi Statue of Liberty. 
; Revised Old Testament and complete Bible published. 

Flood Rock successfully blown up. 
i (June 4-7.) The first International Congress of Anthropology met at Col- 
umbia College, under the auspices of the New York Academy of Anthro- 
pology. Prince Roland Bonaparte, Vice-Pres., in attendance. 
1S89 (hi J'uturo). April 30th, Centennial Celebration of the Inauguration of Gen- 
eral George Washington as President of the United States. 




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